Kaylin Doggendorf

Kaylin Doggendorf

Kaylin Doggendorf, 14, Strangled to Death

17-Year-Old Joshua Wright Charged with Murder

March 23, 2010

Seventeen-year-old Joshua Wright has confessed to breaking into Kaylin's home, then raping and strangling her before leaving her body behind a barn across the street. There's still no reason why. See update after the jump...

Kaylin Michelle Doggendorf was in her room in Pierceton, Indiana last Wednesday night when her dad looked in on her. A police search of her phone and computer revealed that she'd stayed up till 2 a.m. arguing with a boy.

But when her parents went to raise her for school the next morning, she was gone.

Police didn't know if she'd left on her own or if she'd been kidnapped. There was no sign of forced entry and her dad, a light sleeper, says he would have heard something had there been a struggle.

It wouldn't be until Friday night that they had their answer. Kaylin's body was found less than a mile from her home. She'd been strangled to death.

Police have charged Joshua Wright, 17, with the murder. Though they're not releasing many details, it's safe to assume he was the boy she argued with Wednesday evening. Her parents say Kaylin didn't much like Wright, and the two weren't dating, so there's no immediate explanation as to why he would kill her.

Police aren't saying how they found the body or why they suspect Wright to be the killer.

UPDATE: Joshua Wright has confessed to raping and murdering Kaylin.

We still don't know why he did it, but at least we know how. Wright says he broke into Kaylin's home, which had to be sometime between 2 a.m. -- after she stopped talking and texting someone on the phone -- and 6 a.m., when her parents went to wake her for school and found her missing.

He's confessed to police that he forcibly raped and strangled her. Afterward, he placed her body behind a barn across the street. Since this is a rural part of Indiana, this could have been some distance away.

Though the timeline is still sketchy, we presume Wright was the person Kaylin spent the evening arguing with on the phone. He reportedly led police to Kaylin's body, and is now charged with rape and murder. He's almost assuredly headed to adult court.


To see the Facebook tribute page for dear Kaylin, please click here.